American foreign policy and the rise of Islamic politics.

• Author: Davidson, Lawrence

PUTTING THINGS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

THE UNITED STATES AND ITS FOREIGN policy in the Middle East, including its nearly carte blanche backing for the state of Israel, did not create political Islam or the fundamentalist drive for Islamic states. This basically reformist effort is deeply rooted within Muslim history. The Prophet Muhammad himself was the model reformer and the Quran encourages continual reform both of the individual and of society.

This situation has made for a history of recurrent reform movements of varying impact. A new wave of reformism emerged in the nineteenth century as a result of Western colonialism and the cultural and economic changes coming along with it. This reform movement worked from the assumption that Muslim weakness in the face of the Western imperialist intrusion was due to its tempting the population, and particularly its elites, away from true Muslim beliefs and behaviors. In other words corrupt indigenous leadership, mesmerized by Western power, led their communities off the straight path of Islam, thus temporarily throwing many Muslims back into a state of pre-Islamic ignorance or "jahiliyyah." This fascination with the West has been labeled "westoxification" (gharbzadegi) by the Iranian writer Jalal al-Ahmad. According to the Islamic world view, the inevitable result of all this is the loss of God's favor and the resultant decline of Muslim power and prestige.

The elites that cooperated in this process often explain that the straying from the straight path of Islam can be justified by the need for Middle Eastern societies to modernize. And modernization is almost always equated with Westernization. Islamic reformers reject this connection. However, most of them accept the need for regulated change to meet the demands of the contemporary world. Yet, if there are to be changes within Islamic society they have to be ones consistent with established Muslim values and teachings. This was certainly the position taken by Hasan al-Banna who founded the Society of Muslim Brothers in Egypt in the 1930s, which, in turn, is a model for some contemporary Muslim social and political reform movements. The perceived present day state of ignorance and corruption is particularly worrisome for Muslim reformers because its source, the West, has proved to be unlike all earlier historical intruders into the Muslim world. That is, the source of corruption appears resistant to being Islamized. Israel is a prime example of this situation--a non-absorbable Western colony at the very heart of the Muslim Middle East, pressuring through force and bribery the Muslim elites to accept its existence at the cost of the destruction of the Palestinians and the loss of Jerusalem. For its part, the United States has gone from being the least intrusive and corrupting of Western powers (in its pre-WWI posture) to being Israel's major supporter and the perceived leader of the on-going process of disruption and corruption. In making this transition, its evolving policies have simultaneously stimulated and shaped the latest expression of Islamic politics. How has this happened?

THE UNITED STATES AND THE AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES OF THE MIDDLE EAST

One cannot seriously doubt the authoritarian nature of most governments in the Middle East. The majority are secular dictatorships. Most, though not all, are supported by the US. Some present day examples that come to mind are Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Algeria. Part of the problem with some of these secular dictatorships is that they have adopted a Western capitalist mode of economics which has made their Western oriented secular elites wealthy, convinced much of the upper class that the Western lifestyle is preferable, but also have left the majority of the traditional minded population relatively poor. So you have a Westernized economically and politically oppressive ruling elite not only separated from those they rule by wealth and class, but increasingly also by cultural. Often the result is pervasive indifference on the part of the government to the problems of society.

Certainly, it is often the case that the majority's needs are not being met. This is a perfect environment for the rise of Islamic organizations which fill the social service vacuum left by these corrupt and inefficient governments. Indeed, many of these movements, such as the Muslim Brothers, began as public service and charitable organizations performing services not supplied by the state. These could include welfare services, job training, medical care, recreation facilities, community security, and even sanitation services. Such work is put forth as a model of what an Islamic government might achieve for the society as a whole if the present political conditions could be overcome. The present is, once more, equated to a new age of ignorance (of God's ways) equivalent to that which existed in Arabia before the coming of Muhammad.

Getting out of the state of ignorance and regaining God's favor means the re-Islamization of the society. Here seeing to community needs is but the tip of the iceberg. What is also required is instituting Sharia law, Islamic education, and purging society of Western cultural influences. This necessarily leads to a long range program to contest for power with the reigning dictatorships. That is what Islamic politics is all about. Therefore, from the Islamic fundamentalist perspective the two sides are pretty well drawn: bad guys (corrupt, secular, Westernized) against good guys (those who adhere to Islam's straight path).

How does the United States get involved in all of this? The answer is found in the history of American foreign policy in the region over the last 60 or so years.

1. First there is the matter...